If your goal is to amass a significant number of Olympic gold medals, consider the path of Johannes Klaebo, the remarkable cross-country skier who claimed victory in all six of his events at the 2026 Milan Games. His latest was the gold on Saturday in the 50-kilometer mass start individual race.
Alternatively, the swimming pool has historically proven to be a fertile ground for gold.
Below is a curated list of the most decorated gold medalists in modern Olympic history.
Eight Golds
Michael Phelps, 2008
The undisputed monarch of the Olympics remains Michael Phelps.
His defining moment arrived in 2008 in Beijing, where he achieved an incredible feat of eight swimming gold medals. These included a freestyle victory, two medleys, two butterfly events, and three relays.
Having a dominant home country in your sport certainly provides an advantage. For instance, if Phelps had hailed from a less athletically formidable nation, securing those relay victories would have been considerably more challenging.
A prime example is the most electrifying of Phelps’s golds: the 4×100 freestyle relay.
Phelps led off but was initially out-touched by Australian Eamon Sullivan. By the final leg, however, it was the French team that posed a significant threat to snatching gold from the United States and Phelps.
It ultimately required a breathtaking comeback from Phelps’s teammate, Jason Lezak, to clinch the gold by the narrowest of margins.
Seven Golds
Mark Spitz, 1972
The formidable record that Phelps eventually surpassed was established by Mark Spitz, who achieved a perfect seven-for-seven gold medal sweep in 1972.
More accurately, it was seven-for-seven-for-seven. Not only did he win gold in every single event he entered, but he also shattered all existing world records in the process.
Much like Phelps, Spitz captured the imagination of the American public, leading to numerous endorsement deals and widespread fame.
However, the celebratory atmosphere was tragically cut short just days after his final swim, when the kidnapping and subsequent deaths of 11 Israeli hostages cast a dark shadow over the Games.
Six Golds
Phelps, 2004
Prior to Klaebo’s recent achievement, three other athletes had also reached the remarkable milestone of six Olympic gold medals. One of these, as you might guess, was Phelps himself.
There was considerable anticipation that he might win seven or even eight golds in Athens that year too.
Competing in the same events planned for his 2008 triumph, Phelps secured bronze medals in both the 200 freestyle and the 4×100 freestyle relay. Nevertheless, he still managed to win the remaining six events.
Kristin Otto, 1988
Kristin Otto was a prominent member of East Germany’s final Olympic team before the reunification of East and West Germany. Athletes from East Germany, particularly female competitors, frequently faced allegations of using performance-enhancing drugs.
While some athletes later admitted to doping, Otto herself was never implicated in any wrongdoing.
What remains undeniable is that Otto, a specialist in sprint events, swam with incredible speed. Her versatility was equally impressive, earning her gold medals across freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, and various relay events.
Vitaly Scherbo, 1992
And now for a non-swimmer!
Vitaly Scherbo delivered a dominant performance in gymnastics at the Barcelona Games.
He captured gold medals in the horse, the rings, the parallel bars, and the vault. Additionally, he won the individual all-around title and contributed to the team event victory as part of the “Unified Team,” which succeeded the Soviet Union. (Scherbo himself hailed from Belarus).
If you’re wondering why celebrated female gymnastics stars, such as Nadia Comaneci, are not as high on this list, it’s important to remember that they are limited to competing in only four individual apparatus events, whereas male gymnasts like Scherbo participate in six.
Klaebo, 2026
Johannes Klaebo has solidified his status as simply the greatest male cross-country skier of all time. His six gold medals earned in Italy represent the most ever won by an athlete at a single Winter Games.
Such is his renown that eight years ago, a prominent hill in South Korea was named in his honor — the legendary Klaebo bakken, a challenge that left almost every cross-country skier who dared to face it utterly exhausted (unless, of course, their name was Klaebo).
With three golds from Pyeongchang, two from Beijing, and now six more from Milan—encompassing the skiathlon, sprint, individual, mass start, and two different relays—his total stands at an impressive 11. This places him second overall, though still a considerable distance behind Phelps’s astonishing 28 medals.